Analysis of students’ academic heterogeneity in regional non-selective colleges and strategies of its overcoming. A mixed study using the example of technical regional colleges

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>The main subject of the master&rsquo;s paper is the problem of academic heterogeneity of students in context of regional non-selective colleges. The author views academic heterogeneity&nbsp; as different level of academic background of the students within one faculty or group.</p><p>The aim of this work is to examine the phenomenon of academic heterogeneity taking into account quantitative and qualitative data which have been found with the help of statistic procedures and a series of in-depth interviews. The study focuses on the way the quantitative data function in real-life context.</p><p>The study answers the main research question: do college teachers and administrators have an idea of academic heterogeneity, what are the elements of this concept, how do they react on this phenomenon and which strategies do regional colleges use working in conditions of academic heterogeneity?</p><p>The results of the study demonstrate connection of academic heterogeneity with a more global problem &ndash; decrease of students&rsquo; academic level. A range of latent practices used by college teachers and administrators have been found: reduction of courses, differentiation of students&rsquo; groups into subgroups depending on their background level, shifting of responsibility for students&rsquo; academic progress from students themselves to teachers.</p>